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Virgin Media Could Pay £4.5B for Leak Affecting 900,000 Customers

A misconfigured database holding personal data was left available online between April 2019 and February 2020.

Virgin Media could pay up to £4.5 billion (US$5.6 billion) in compensation to customers affected in a security incident that exposed the personal details of some 900,000 people.

Between April 2019 and late February 2020, a misconfigured database exposed customer information including full names, email addresses, birthdates, and contact phone numbers. For some users, it exposed requests to block or unlock pornographic or explicit content. If accessed, the data could give cybercriminals means to launch phishing attacks of blackmail customers.

Your Lawyers, a UK-based consumer action and data breach compensation law firm, is representing claimants pursuing compensation as a result of the leak. Those who have received confirmation they were affected could be entitled to thousands of pounds, the firm says. The average compensation claim for financial and emotional distress could total £5,000 per claimant.

"Virgin Media failed to take the steps required to keep customer data safe," said Aman Johal, director at Your Lawyers, in a statement. "It is vital for the company to understand the severity of this breach."

When data is left exposed, it's "open season" for fraudsters to scam vulnerable people, he adds. "Your Lawyers has formally notified Virgin Media that we are taking action and our claimant base is growing daily."

Those affected are urged to make a claim as soon as possible. Read more details here.

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“ 2020, a misconfigured database exposed customer information including full names, email addresses, birthdates, and contact phone numbers.”
In 2020 and we still have misconfigured database? That is interesting.

In actuality I would see that number drastically decreasing. They will definitely have to pay but typically legal will whittle the number down to a more agreeable number to represent both parties (company and consumer). In this case 900K consumers.

Moreso, passwords are the weakest form of authentication. Always should be coupled with MFA wherever applicable and database dumping is a process where this should most definitely be applicable. Probably would have stopped this from occuring.

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